The Unofficial Blogger of the Chicago Cubs in Canada

Summer Dreaming, and Donald Trump a Cubs Fan?

I’m always a little hesitant when expectations run high for a team heading into a season. I just think that it takes the fun out of it or perhaps, I’m still getting used to the Cubs being a really good team.

One thing I really hate about sports is contract talks. Take Jose Bautista’s situation in Toronto. The rumour is a 5 year/ $150 million dollar deal. I wouldn’t say that nobody is worth that kind of money. He’s a great player but contract talks before a season begins is dangerous because if he has a bad season then then that’s not going to bode well for him. On the other hand, he could have a monster of a year and all the better for him.

However, the way the Canadian dollar is moving, the Toronto Blue Jays had better prepare for a Joey Bats farewell tour.

Now, let’s talk about the Cubs.

This is the final year of Theo Epstein’s contract with the Cubs. Will he get an extension or will he bring his magic to another team?

“Your payroll, more so than any other time in history, doesn’t determine how many wins you’ll have,” Owner Tom Ricketts said. “It’s not about how much you spend, but how much talent you put on the field and how they perform.

“Whether the payroll is [$150 million] or [$105 million], what happens on the field is what matters. The players on the field determine if you’re going to win.”

Which is corporate speak for, “Wait and see.”

Now, I’m not going to get involved in the American political landscape because well, I’m Canadian and that’s really not my place but Donald Trump sent out a Tweet the other day

“I hear the Rickets family, who own the Chicago Cubs, are secretly spending $’s against me. They better be careful, they have a lot to hide!” Trump said.

I don’t pretend to know what that means but Tom Ricketts responded with,

“It’s a little surreal when Donald Trump threatens your mom, whether it’s my mom or my dad on his ending spending stuff, or my sister on marriage equality, or my brothers and what they do, or what we do with the team, we’re pretty much an open book. We stand up for what we believe in, we support the causes we think are important, and that’s what America should be. That’s who we are.”

Baseball and politics shall never meet.

Next week we begin again. MLB.TV has updated their schedule and I’m excited if you’ve never subscribed to it, I highly recommend it. I don’t know where I’d be without it.

“I look at Spring Training as a continuation of last year and smelling the grass and all that — it’s going to be fun,” Kris Bryant said. “We’re not putting any pressure on ourselves. It’s just another year where we have some new guys in the clubhouse, and we’re all looking forward to the season and having some fun with it.”